It's been a year since I first posted this thread and I have finally got my upgrade.I went with the Asrock Z77 Extreme 6,3570k Ivy Bridge cpu and 16g G-Skill Ares 2133 ram.I am happy that I moved the rad out from the motherboard early on because it would not have fit otherwise.I had no clearance trouble with this combination thankfully and I have included some pics!

Also finally got a 240g ssd wich really rocks in this new system.At stock for now but plan on overclocking soon.I aslo read about the prob with inferior tim between the heatspreader and die on this cpu and have ordered Coollabratory liquid Ultra to do the de-lidding mod,keep ya posted.

Hit 76c degrees at 4.4ghz on the 3570k,voltage on auto, running stress test in Intel Extreme Tuning utility at which point I got throttling:( Just received my order of Coolaboratory Liquid Ultra for between the heat spreader and cpu die for the de-lidding mod:) Will keep ya posted!

I took the opportunity to do a lap job all the way up to 1500 grit,like a mirror!
I know the hose clamps look ugly and cheap which they are I would not have been able to lap my waterblock without them...I didn't want to empty the system and was able to pull it off.

Are you going to reinstall the IHS after you put the new paste on? OMG, if you are leaving the lid off then you are my hero. The Storm was designed to be used on a bare CPU die. When the Storm was first released Cathar though it was the absolute best a waterblock could be, on a bare die. With the exception of the Storm G5.

I will reinstall the HSF for now without it I would have to remove the mounting bracket and without some shim of some sort it would be very hard to mount this huge block on such a little die.I would need a lot of time to think about that one.So far the only Idea is to find a large rubber washer that would fit around the die and a little higher in relation the the die's height.Then I could compress the rubber washer until I get contact with the die.It means you have to tighten hold-down nuts in sequence to keep the pressure even,while trying to neutralize the leaning effect of heavy tubing or heat sinks on the socket.I'm hoping someone will come up with a product..:)

Thanks for the positive comments!Well I had everything I needed to do the TIM replacement I just needed the nerve to put the knife to it...wasn't hard at all which surprised me! Tips if any I can offer is to use a very thin blade and to keep it flat once you get under a corner.To get under a corner you need to really eye-ball the edge between the spreader and the pcb keeping it perfectly in between.Cut closer the the heat spreader if it makes you feel more comfortable but I shaved the plating a little doing that.Thought it was a scratch into the pcb when I saw this little exposed copper colored tracer..my stomach fell but I just blew and it floated away:) JUST DO IT!!

Also good idea to key the spreader and pcb die located in you'r brain,two sides you can go deep with the blade but the other two you have to be careful cause the end of the die is right there!My last pic has the right orientation die from the black numbers at the bottom to the patch of gold contacts at the top.
Ok now down to it,before and after results:)

WHOAH!!That is one toasty Ivy bread! But wait all is not lost because this is a wolf in sheep's clothing,ready for higher OC's!!The stuff of legends I tell you! Behold! Also at a higher voltage because I had some issues :)